Page 79 of Gladiators of the Vagabond Boxset

***

I watched Chloe sleep that morning as the first light came in through the eastern windows.

She was beautiful, with her golden hair in choppy layers fanning out around her face like a halo.

The morning sunlight painted her cheeks pink and made her blonde lashes shimmer where they rested against her cheeks.

I wanted, very badly, to kiss her—to make her mine in every way that I could.

There wouldn’t be any time for such things.

I was almost a hundred percent certain that, in moments, the door would open, and I’d be summoned for a rigorous training session that would leave me bloody and exhausted by the time I returned tonight.

My only question was: Were they going to force my Chloe to watch, or were they going to keep her locked up in here?

She blinked open her blue eyes sleepily and then smiled a soft smile. “Hi there, you’re up early.” My heart thudded uncomfortably in my chest at that smile. I loved it, and I hated that she was locked up in here with me, facing certain death while I faced a life of imprisonment.

“They’ll be here soon for me. We should get dressed,” I told her.

Of course, I’d already run my jumpsuit through the cleaning cycle, washed up myself, and gotten dressed.

I just hadn’t been able to wake her up yet; I wanted her to get all the rest she needed so she’d stay healthy as long as possible.

With a sigh, she sat up and stretched out her arms, causing the shirt she’d worn to bed to tighten across her breasts. I didn’t have the strength to look away; had I been in my four-legged form, I’d probably have drooled outright. She was so pretty.

“Eyes up here, Kitan,” she drawled, laughter in her voice.

I shrugged, not in the least ashamed at having been caught staring.

“Can’t help it. You’re the woman of my dreams, Chloe.

I always want to look at you.” Then I waggled my eyebrows to make the statement less heavy, and she laughed again, shocking me by throwing her arms around my neck.

“You really mean that, don’t you?” she asked against my neck, and shivers shot down my spine at the sensation.

My cock jerked in my pants. Briefly, I tried to restrain the urge, but then I wondered why I even should.

Time was short—really short, in our case, if we didn’t find a way to save her.

Closing my arms around her slender waist, I yanked her into my lap.

She gasped and tilted her face up to mine, cheeks rosy from slumber and, I hoped, excitement too.

Yes, I thought as I inhaled deeply, she was aroused.

She liked it when I got a little more demanding—that was good to know.

It meant I didn’t need to hold back as much as I had so far.

“I’m going to kiss you, Chloe,” I told her, just to warn her.

Then I slid my hand up her back and folded my fingers around her slender neck from behind.

At the top of my hand, I felt the small ridge for her nav-port—the thing that was both killing her and, at this point, keeping her alive too.

She was the one who leaned up, her small breasts brushing against my chest, her nipples hard little points.

When our mouths met, it was just like before; heat crawled up my spine, and I rapidly lost control of my senses.

I loved her taste, loved how she was both bold and curious, letting me lead but eagerly trying things herself.

When I slicked my tongue into her mouth, she moaned and then let her own tangle with mine.

It was perfect; it was making my cock so hard it hurt.

I pulled her further into my lap, and she eagerly moved to straddle me, pressing herself against my straining erection with only a little urging from my hands.

She wasn’t wearing anything but the shirt and whatever she had on underneath, and I was desperate to find out.

Nothing shy about my Chloe; she might have been a frightened little thing when I found her, but with me.

.. When I slid my hand up the soft, silky skin of her leg, she writhed against me, pressing closer.

She dug her hands into my hair and held me tight—the slight pinpricks of pain along my scalp excited me.

Unable to take it any more, I tumbled us forward onto the bed and pressed my body down on hers, finally finding the pressure I needed to ease the ache in my shaft.

She was so hot between her legs and so soft.

When I ground against her mons, she moaned into my mouth, and the scent of her arousal perfumed the air.

I slid my hand up her thigh, yanked her shirt out of the way, and lifted my upper body with one hand so I could look down at her.

She whimpered and chased after my mouth with her own, but then settled, blue eyes growing large as she looked at what I was doing.

I groaned. No panties—she had nothing on underneath her shirt.

“Shit, baby,” I growled. “You’re beautiful.

” She was a little unsure, I could tell—not because she didn’t want this, but because she didn’t know what to do.

I’d show her. Knowing my Chloe, she’d catch on in a hurry and then blow my mind.

Where my groin pressed against her pretty pussy, she was all pink and pale but largely still hidden.

I shifted my hips and watched her eyes grow wide.

“I’ll make you feel good, Chloe, I promise.

” At this point, I spared not a single thought to the possibility of being interrupted.

When she gave me a nod, my own arousal ratcheted up a notch. I loved how she trusted me.

With the shirt pressed up to just beneath her breasts, despite the urge to see more, I left it there.

Instead, I rolled my hips a second time and saw the flush on her cheeks deepen.

When I lifted my hips away, she shivered and shook her head, her eyes begging me to stay where I’d been.

Truly, it’s where I wanted to be, but we weren’t ready for that yet; we had no time.

Instead, I let my eyes feast on her most private parts, soft and glistening from wetness.

Then, I shifted my weight to just my left hand and dipped the other between her legs, drawing a finger between her petals.

“How does that feel, Chloe?” I murmured.

She made a soft, inarticulate sound, her hips arching toward my fingers.

“Do that again. Please.” With a laugh, I winked at her and leaned lower, pressing my open mouth to the tip of her breast and suckling her right through the shirt.

At her shocked moan, I dipped my fingers back into her cunt and found the tight little pearl at the top, thrumming it gently.

Her whole body went tight as a bowstring in moments, and I changed the angle of my hand to slide a finger into her channel, using my thumb to stroke her nub.

She clenched down hard on my finger, and the sensation sent heat spiraling through my own body.

I could vividly imagine her walls clenching down on my cock in the same way. Fuck, that would feel so good.

Shifting my attention to her other breast, I dared to scrape a sharp canine gently over the soft slope, from one to the other.

She liked that and groaned louder when I laved at the tip of her breast through her shirt.

As she tightened even more around my finger, I knew she was close, and the urge to lower myself between her thighs and lick up all her cream became stronger.

I didn’t want to rush her too much, so I settled for steadily moving my thumb and finger in rhythm, curling my finger to find that slightly rough spot on the inside of her walls.

When I did, she tensed—her heels digging into the bed and her back bowing—my name tumbling from her lips in a gasp. Her thighs clamped down hard around my hand, and I fought a happy laugh, not wanting to give her the wrong impression. Yes, I needed to do this every morning for the rest of my life.

As her body relaxed and her thighs fell open, her lovely blue eyes stared at me from beneath lids at half-mast. “That was amazing,” she mumbled in a throaty tone that did nothing to calm the raging heat inside me. “It’s never felt like that before…”

I groaned. Her words told me that she’d pleasured herself before, and I liked that idea—that mental image—far too much.

She looked relaxed and calm now, so I didn’t feel like I needed to hold back.

Gently freeing my hand from between her legs, I held it up between us so she could see how my fingers glistened from her juices.

Holding eye contact, I slid my fingers between my lips and groaned at the taste of her.

Her eyes went wide again, but then she smiled, her cheeks still such a lovely pink.

“You taste so good, Chloe,” I told her bluntly, and then I had to add, “You are my mate. That’s how I feel about it.

I know I haven’t asked, but…” I didn’t know how to even finish that statement.

It was a done deal as far as everyone on Sune was concerned, and I’d staked the claim to everyone aboard the Vagabond too even if Chloe hadn’t been aware.

I knew we clicked, that we worked—the perfect way we worked together when flying the ship only made that more clear.

I doubted very much she would object to the claim; she certainly hadn’t minded my touch so far, had she?

Her blue eyes were steady on my face as she answered, “Really? Even though I’m dying? Kitan… I don’t want to hurt you. I want you to find happiness.” That was very sweet, but it didn’t matter. With her here, I would. When she was gone, it was going to be torture regardless.

Leaning in, I pressed my mouth back to hers.

“Yes, even so. I knew the moment we met, and you are not going to die. I won’t let you.

I’ll find a way to save you.” She still looked sad, but she let me kiss her, lifting her arms to curl them around my back and rake her fingers along my spine.

I shivered and pressed closer again, hissing when my still-engorged cock pressed against her wetness. I felt it even through the jumpsuit.

“Oh…” she moaned again, hooking a leg up around one of my thighs and pressing closer.

“Kitan…” she sighed, and the sound was music to my ears.

I loved those sounds, even if my cock was so hard it was ready to burst. I needed to bury myself between her thighs, and if we had more time, I would have done so.

Except I heard the morning bell tolling—the second one that announced the end of the dawn prayers. We were out of time for now.

When I pulled back, she clung to me. I laughed and found myself picking her up and carrying her into the bathroom. “You need to wash up and dress. They’ll be here to feed us soon—if we’re lucky—and then it’s training for me.”

Her forehead wrinkled. “Training? How do you already know what they’re going to do?”

Shivering at the recollection of all the days I’d already spent in this damn place, I tried to pull off a nonchalant look and probably failed, judging from the concern in her eyes. “It’s the standard routine here.”

She did let go of me at last, and hurried into the bathing stall to get cleaned up.

I tried not to take a peek when she washed, flattered that she wasn’t concerned about me being in the room.

I picked up the shirt she tossed out and hurried to put her clothes from yesterday in the cleanser.

She’d taken a strong liking to the sleeveless jacket I’d once given her and wore it every day over her shapeless shirt and form-fitting leggings, still very much preferring to hide her body.

Neither of us had much in the way of clothing or belongings to start with, but now, we had only the clothes on our backs.

Sure, the Suleantran Order would soon be supplying us with everything we could desire; they wanted to portray their coveted true shifter priests as wanting for nothing, after all.

That didn’t feel right, though. When I’d escaped, I’d taken only things I could quickly pawn for money.

I hadn’t wanted to keep anything I’d had here.

As I worked to clean her clothes, I eyed my own jumpsuit, aware that it smelled of her arousal—that her juices had drenched the section over my aching cock.

It wasn’t very visible, as the fabric was already dark and hid the stain, but I could smell it, and so would the other Sune.

Would it embarrass Chloe to know that they would?

In the end, I couldn’t bear to wash the jumpsuit again.

I knew what lay ahead of me today; catching her scent would remind me of the happiness I could find with her.

It would help me get through the day. Surely, Chloe would understand that if I explained it to her.

I left the bathroom before she’d finished washing up, needing my erection to go down, not get worse again. I was already going to risk blue balls by not satisfying my needs now, but I figured I’d soon forget about that pain anyway.

As I stalked into the chambers, I came to a startled stop when I was faced with several people in the room. Instantly, any lusty thoughts disappeared. I hadn’t heard them come in; I hadn’t scented them inside the bathing area.

My parents, decked out in their finery, were accompanied by a horde of servants setting out the table with the finest breakfast foods.